A solar charge controller keeps a battery bank from overcharging and turns off solar panels at night to block current from reversing from the batteries to the panels, an important function since electrons can flow both ways. Learn more about how charge controllers work and how they add to battery life.

Have you ever heard of “net metering?” Net metering is slightly different depending on your location but the basic idea is that utilities have to buy rooftop solar power from customers who produce it, at current retail electric rates. If someone generates as much power as he consumes, his utility bill can zero out. Currently 44 states and Washington, DC have mandatory net metering and utilities in three of the remaining states allow some form of it.

Roof-Tech has introduced a new and revolutionary way to quickly and efficiently mount solar electric modules onto asphalt roofs. By way of their NO-RAIL design, they have done away with solar panel installation hassle and expenditure!

Congratulations to Bishop Verot Vikings from Fort Myers, FL for wining the FGCU High School Solar Go-Cart Challenge! Looks like the LG solar panels did well! The Bishop Verot Catholic High School team won the speed race, the endurance relay race, and the overall grand championship.

A tough choice because HUP is by far the better choice. These two batteries are not even in the same league. If you are contemplating parallel connected strings of 16 – L16’s, your life expectancy could be 6 – 6.5 years without dedicated effort on your part to maintain the parallel strings properly.

Some people believe that more scientific reports are equated to a greater knowledge of climate change, which in turn supports policies that keep fossil fuels in the ground. Social science suggests that these high-profile studies are actually increasing the gap between those that understand the science and those that deny the occurrence of climate change.

A recent poll showed that of the top 18 issues that Americans care most about, 10 would be fixed with Public Banks and monetary reform. Unfortunately climate change and ocean acidification were not even on the list.

A recent study determined that humans are causing irreversible damage to the planet from burning fossil fuels. Unfortunately not everyone is thoroughly convinced that there is a high risk of widespread harm from rising global temperatures. This risk could explain recent floods, droughts, and extinction of species and ocean acidification.

Solar panels currently cannot communicate, cannot adjust to environmental circumstances, and do not have automatic shutdown capabilities. However, solar panels continue to get more efficient. Most of the newer solar panels are equipped with optimizers, either built in or separately attached. Microinverters provide the same basic benefits at similar costs; however, optimizers operate on the DC side are always connected to a central or string inverter.